Ears To Hear
Jesus said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 11:15).
He certainly did not mean we are excused of being able to hear Him because:
- It is inconvenient (Acts 24:25).
- It is not in the traditions of my family (Matthew 15:3).
- We do not know the truth of His Gospel (Romans 10:14, 15, 16, 17, 1 Corinthians 15:1,2,3,4).
- We think there is no consequence of not obeying the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
- We have never read the Bible from cover to cover (2 Timothy 2:15).
- We think we just need to be good to get to heaven when in fact there is only One that is good (Mark 10:18).
- We think we can change the word of God to suit our purpose. (Galatians 1:8-9).
- We don't believe that Jesus is God (1 Timothy 3:16, John 1:1, 14).
- We church hop trying to find a preacher who preaches what we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3).
- Our pride gets in the way (1 John 2:16).
I teach a one-on-one video internet Bible study about the truth of obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Giving all the glory to Jesus, I have taught this study to hundreds of people around the world as it is available to anyone who wants to take it.
Doing this, I have found many many people who have ears to hear, and, unfortunately, those that don't. I want to tell you about a study that I gave to a pastor in Africa in early December 2021 , who at that time, thought he knew the truth and was saved.
First of all, giving a Bible study in Africa, or for that matter in other continents outside of North America or Europe, is almost never convenient, as the person has to purchase video-internet minutes to take the study, as many people in these continents don't have Wi-Fi. And then there is the challenge of weather as satellite connection is invariably affected by rain and clouds. But for those that have ears to hear, none of this stops them from hearing the Word of God and taking this Bible study.
When I explained that the Gospel was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), it was the first time that he had heard this, but fully agreed he needed to obey the Gospel to get to heaven. Then when I took him to Acts 2:38, and explained that this is how one obeys the Gospel, that death is repentance, burial is baptism in Jesus' name for the remission of sins, and that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, he still had ears to hear.
I know that because for most people that I teach this study to is the complication of understanding that there is only One God, and that God is One, Jesus Christ. For anyone NOT baptized in the name of Jesus, Matthew 28:19 is always the "elephant in the room". For these people, I can see it in their facial expression, and that is one of the reasons that I do this study live using video-internet. This was true for this person.
But after I explained that the "name" in Matthew 28:19 is singular and not plural (names) in any Bible in any language around the globe, it could not be possible that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is the name. And in addition that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are not names in the first place, they are titles or offices of God, I saw he was getting the revelation of Jesus Christ. And after I explained that what Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth", the elephant in the room disappeared. With ears to hear, he clearly got that Jesus is God. I have hundreds of Bible verses that clearly declare that Jesus is God, but I did not have to use any of them.
From Acts 2:38 I took him through all of the instances where the lost were baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues (remainder of Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10 and Acts 19) and again, having ears to hear, he could see the Biblical truth of obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And how do I know that? At the end of the study, we went back to Acts 2:38. I then asked him how he was baptized. He told me the same way that most people in his area were baptized - in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I asked him if he could now see that he needed to be re-baptized in Jesus' name and he boldly declared yes. And I asked him after he was baptized in Jesus' name, would he re-baptize all those in his congregation, and again he boldly said yes.
I also asked if he was filled with the Holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking in tongues. And he beamed at me and said yes, when he was a young adult. He also told me that many in his church had the Holy Ghost, but some did not.
At the end of the study, he told me he was going to find an Apostolic Pentecostal pastor in the vicinity of where he lived and get re-baptized in Jesus' name. He did what he said he was going to do and was re-baptized in mid-January 2022. He is now planning on re-baptizing his congregation in the near future and praying for and laying hands on those that have not received the gift of the Holy Ghost, so they will receive this precious gift, with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
Thank God, this is one of dozens and dozens of stories where lost souls were born again as a result of taking this Bible study. Of course, more often than not, this happens when a lost soul hears the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ when he or she hears it preached from a pulpit at a church that preaches Gospel truth. It's what happens when you have ears to hear. You are born again, born of water and Spirit and get access to the Kingdom of Heaven (John3:3-5).
From Ears to Hear to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
From Ears to Hear to Born Again
From Ears to Hear to Baptism
